


The AU No One Asked For

by CallMeAJ



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Creepy Batkids, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Psychopaths? Sociopaths? Who knows, Tired Bruce Wayne, i'll add more tags as i go on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23433382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeAJ/pseuds/CallMeAJ
Summary: ...but got anyway.In where the batkids are unhinged in one way or another and Bruce has no idea and realizes it too late.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne and his kids
Comments: 21
Kudos: 157





	1. It All Started Here...

**Author's Note:**

> So... basically I had a sudden thought at 3 in the morning of creepy batkids and tired kinda-dad Bruce Wayne and then boom!  
> This existed.  
> ＼(￣▽￣)/  
> Dunno if this thing's gonna take a dark turn but let's see if I even ever update this.  
> Also, be gentle with me 'cause this is kinda my second-ish official fanfic.

Bruce should’ve been more observant the time he took Richard in. Being somewhat new to the Batman business wasn’t an excuse, of course, not after all the training he had before he came back to Gotham but his bleeding heart made him unable to see the obvious signs.

With him associating Richard’s situation to his, being forced to watch as his parents died in front of him, helpless and frozen, he was blinded.

He didn’t see the way how Richard’s eyes were devoid of any emotion (aside from the smallest tilt of his head to convey his _curiosity_ ) after he watched his parents plummet to their death, and even if Bruce did, he’d assumed that the boy was in shock and denial at what had happened _(like when he did in the alley that night--)._

He took him in, not knowing that he was leading the wolf disguised as a sheep into his home.

He wasn’t sure if he did the right choice. Sometimes he would dream of seeing Richard, standing over him with a knife in his hand and the cheerfully carefree smile on his face that he always had as he plunges the weapon deep into Bruce’s guts, twisting and turning it, and Bruce would wake up sweating and heart beating loudly against his chest. He shrugs the dream— _nightmare_ —away, believing that his subconscious was only creating these horrible visions because he felt that he wasn’t going to be a good role model for his ward.

And although his body was unconsciously trying to steer clear away from the boy (getaway _getawaygetaway **getaw** \--_), he would berate and scold himself every time he caught this action and would made an effort to bond with Richard.

“I like you, Bruce.” Richard said out of nowhere at breakfast one day, not looking at the man himself but at the line of syrup that slowly dribbled down his stack of pancakes.

Bruce was taken aback by the sudden statement, “Thank...you?” He was unsure of what to reply. “I... like you, too.”

“You don’t sound sure of that but it’s alright. Things like this take time.” Richard smiled, eyes closing into crescents but still continuing on pouring the syrup over his breakfast. “I don’t want you to go away like mom or dad. I rather like you.”

Bruce didn’t know what else to say after being told such an _~~ominous~~_ odd thing so he said the first thing that came to his head, “What if I go away?”

This makes Richard pause and open his eyes to lock directly at Bruce’s own, his smile seeming to turn colder. Bruce suppressed a shiver threatening to run up his spine as he met the ward’s blue eyes. He didn’t really notice this but had the boy’s eyes always been that cold and deep? It seemed as if those eyes were staring into his very soul and he couldn’t stop himself from breaking out into a cold sweat.

He felt as if he was walking on thin ice and one wrong word would have him submerging into the cold depths below, never to return back to the surface. _He didn’t want that._

With pale hands, he puts his utensils down beside his plate and dabs his lips with a t issue, clearing his throat.

“That is, what I mean is... if I was taken away unwillingly,” He said. “I mean, it’s not the first time criminals tried to hold me hostage for ransom...”

Richard tilted his head to the side, not breaking eye contact and smile unchanging.

“Right, of course you wouldn’t leave me willingly. I’d be very sad if you did... being taken unwillingly...” The child said, deciding that there was enough syrup in his pancake and putting the bottle down on the table. “You wouldn’t be held hostage. Not on my watch. I don’t want you to go so you won’t. “

And he finally broke eye contact with the older man and proceeded to shovel his face with the syrup-filled pancakes, stuffing his cheeks like a hamster. Bruce blinked and realized that he had been holding his breath for too long—when did he do that? --that he felt a bit dizzy. He moved his gaze towards Richard, who was acting as cheerful as usual as if the thing that had happened earlier was just a figment of Bruce’s imagination.

‘Maybe I’m just exhausted...’Bruce thought as he held a hand to his head and pushed his chair back to stand up.

Richard looked at him curiously.

“What’s wrong? You’re not hungry anymore?” He asked and pointed at the leftover pancakes in Bruce’s plate. “Alfred would be sad if you don’t finish it!”

Bruce shook his head and gave his ward a tired smile. “I think I have a headache, Dick. Please tell Alfred that breakfast was delicious as usual. I’m going to go rest.”

“You really should.” Richard nodded. “But hey, can I have your pancakes?”

“...Go ahead...”

Richard cheered with child-like glee and Bruce headed upstairs to his room, not noticing as a blank expression crossed Richard’s face as he stared at his figure with a penetrating gaze. Nor did he hear the boy’s footsteps as he followed him along the corridor or as the boy opened his bedroom door to sneak inside the room and stare at his sleeping figure, smiling silently to himself as he held a dinner knife in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read this and went "what in the hell just happened" or something similar to that, know that my answer to that is,
> 
> Forth fuck if I know, because I, too, am confused.


	2. Just A Subtle Persuasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Dick wants, he'll get... with a little bit of acting and manipulation, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so y’all know, I haven’t read the comics and I have the barest memories on the Batman Animated show, I just do multiple fact-checks regarding if what I’m writing is true or not and I honestly don’t know how Dick ended up in the cave especially when wiki just tells you that Dick found out about the cave and then became Robin.  
> I don’t even know where this thing takes place ;-; that’s the reason why this is an AU in the first place but I am t r y i n g.  
> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧Ahahahaha, I don’t know what I’m doing*:･ﾟ✧

Richard was... _frustrated_ , to say the least. And it all had everything to do with his newly acquired guardian, Bruce Wayne. Or, more specifically, the lack of attention he was getting from him.

Alfred was a pleasant company, occasionally checking in if he was doing good or if he needed something, and Richard isn’t gonna lie, Alfred’s cookies were to _kill_ for but he wanted to see more of Bruce and that slimmer of darkness ( _so much potential, he wanted to mould it into something **more**_ ) he would sometimes see flashing in the older man’s eyes.

Such a shame it would only last a second before those kind eyes were back and would look at him and smile at him and he hates those eyes—

_...Well, at least he thinks he does..._

Bruce always seemed so busy in the morning with what galas, charity fundraisers, or business meetings he had that he didn’t have enough time for Richard, though the man does try. Not only that but whenever he arrives in the evening after a tiring day, he ups and disappears for hours and comes back deep in the night, exhausted... sometimes, even injured.

And although he would hear gossips of Bruce Wayne doing things that generally _would_ explain how his injuries appeared out of nowhere, like trying to kiss someone that they gave him a black eye or two or somehow getting locked in the bathroom of his own company that he had no choice but to jump down the window from the third-story, as ridiculous as those stories sounded, it was too far from the image Bruce showed him whenever he was home and tried to bond with him, as rarely as that happened.

Richard knows that both Bruce and Alfred thought he didn’t notice for all their unnaturally heightened senses, oh, but he did. He just didn’t know what Bruce himself was doing every night and he was getting mildly annoyed with this.

In conclusion, he knows there’s something bigger going on more behind the scenes and he didn’t like not knowing what’s happening to _things_ he considered **_his_** and if no one’s going to tell him anything, he’d just take matters to his own hands.

At least, that was until he managed to end up stumbling in a cave hidden under the manor when he fiddled with the grandfather clock in the main study out of boredom one night because the thing wasn’t even working. Who would’ve guessed it would actually open a secret door?

“A bat cave...” Richard muttered under his breath, looking up at the bats hanging from the cave’s ceiling.

It didn’t take him long to connect the dots with all the obvious proof in front of him with what things were scattered all around the wide cave.

Richard felt like madly laughing at the realization that something like this was just happening under his nose and _he_ of all people didn’t notice this.

Bruce was Batman.

His guardian was Batman himself!

 _The_ Batman who was going out every night, who was defeating criminals out in the streets, who was doing what the police should’ve doing but were too incompetent to do _, the_ _reason for him not having any **time.for.Bruce** \--_

Richard narrowed his eyes. He wanted in on this hero business. If Bruce wasn’t going to spend time with him then _he_ was going to spend time with Bruce, whether he liked it or not and he knew a perfect excuse to force his guardian to agree to his request.

_Oh, to be a young boy, traumatized enough by his parents’ death that he wants to avenge them and take revenge against his parent’s killer to become a crime-fighter._

Richard laughs silently to himself.

“Dick?” He hears Bruce’s surprised voice from behind him. “What are you doing here?”

Richard musters the most shocked expression he could and turns around, pointing a finger and exclaiming, “You’re Batman?!”

** X **

Bruce couldn’t believe he actually let a child, practically a baby, with him while he was out to fight crime _(Why did I do it...?)_.

Well, of course he wouldn’t actually let Dick fight crime until he was older. For now, he’d have to do simple, _safe_ tasks like walking people who felt unsafe home, helping old people cross the street (what were they doing out this late at night anyway?), or finding lost pets.

Dick, thank god, seemed to like the tasks and didn’t complain about wanting to fight crime so they could take this slow. He’d have Dick remember and familiarize himself with Gotham’s paths, tell him of safe places he could go, and teach him self-defence techniques in case he gets caught up in fights he wasn’t ready yet.

“Come on, Batman! Let’s patrol!”

Bruce looks at the excited Robin-- dressed in those god-awful traffic light colors despite his insistence of making his ward wear darker colors-- and nodded.

“Let’s go.”

From behind him, Robin silently breaks out into a predatory smile.

_‘A little bit of **subtle persuasion** work wonders.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, but has anyone thought of instead Bruce having the Brucie persona, he had a Dad one cause I cannot stop thinking about it. Just... every answer to why he’s late, where he was when this thing happened, why he has injuries would be,  
> “Kids.”  
> Or, cursed idea I know, a daddy persona.  
> Or, like, Bruce being related to the Addams family cause there is potential there.  
> ...You know what, I want to write that...


	3. Part Of The Family Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In where Jason joins the family.

Jason was no stranger to the harsh conditions of living in the streets. He was a street orphan and no one took care of him but his own self so he did what he could do just to survive, and that meant adapting to these harsh conditions.

So, of course, it wasn’t really surprise that targeting rich people for their things he could sell for some quick cash was a must in his agenda. They were always arrogant and pompous, looking at him like he was something less than a human _(and there would be that rising suffocating feeling in his chest, something at the back of his mind urging him to smash their skulls in again and **again and again and** \--)_. They had a lot of money anyway. Besides, who would be stupid enough to go to Crime Alley? They were literally just asking to be robbed.

Though, he just didn’t expect that he’d actually be attempting to steal the tires of the _batmobile_. He didn’t even know that Batman was actually real and not just some made up creature parents told their kids so they’d behave.

Weird thing was that even when he was caught by the vigilante in the middle of the act, instead of getting angry or hostile or... or anything really! He was treated to burgers after a few seconds of staring at each other in silence and honestly? It was free food and Jason really wouldn’t pass off free food. He didn’t have to worry about it being spiked since it came from a decently known restaurant and besides, if the ridiculous batsuit-wearing man decided to try anything funny, he has his pipe propped next to him.

The man may be wearing a suit to protect him but with the right precision and enough blows to the head, Batman was as good as dead. For now, he’ll just enjoy today’s food and worry tomorrow about what he would eat the next day.

Although before he even knew it, he was taken in by Bruce Wayne after a series of events which led him and Batman into bringing Ma Gunn to the authorities when he found out about her illegal activities, and wasn’t that a surprise?

** X **

Jason knew he was impulsive, reckless, and full of rage, but he wasn’t reckless enough to deal with _that_.

Richard sat in front of him, Bruce having to step out momentarily to take a conveniently timed phone call from Barbara and had to leave the two of them to their own devices. Richard was smiling cheerfully, the corning of his eyes crinkling, as he greeted Jason.

“Hi!” He said, his blue eyes never straying away from Jason. He tilted his head slightly to the side. “Why are you here?”

‘Why are you here’, not ‘who are you’.

Richard’s voice was cheerful and his expression was open that one wouldn’t have possibly thought that he was anything but a cheerful and friendly person but years of living in the streets honed Jason’s instincts and it was telling him that he was no match for that _smiling monster_ —

Richard shifted slightly in the chair and that was enough for Jason to catch sight of something metallic that was falling out from the others’ pocket.

‘Fucker has a knife... He knows I saw it.’ Jason thought, eyes narrowing at the smug expression on the other’s face that flashed by in his expression for a second before disappearing. ‘He wants to scare me away. Or kill me.’

He reached out behind him, trying to be subtle in his movements as possible. Bruce couldn’t separate the pipe away from him and after a huge tantrum, he let him keep it. The suffocating feeling in his chest was back again, frantically urging him to quickly make the threat in front of him **d i s a p p e a r. . .**

Apparently, he wasn’t subtle enough as he’d like when he saw Richard perk up and reach a hand toward his pocket, a gleeful—almost crazed—look expression appearing on his face.

Jason felt trapped being in the same room as the smiling thing, especially now that it decided to bare its teeth. There was no way out unless he _made_ one for himself. The ringing in his ears was back and getting louder and louder with each passing second, it was giving him a headache. His vision was starting to darken at the edges and he couldn’t think of anything else but-

**_~~Kill. It. Before. It. Gets. You.~~ _ **

He didn’t know why Richard suddenly paused and looked a bit surprise but Jason didn’t waste any time and use this fraction of hesitation to dash forward with the pipe raised, ready to bring it down and smash—

“Dick, Barbara called to ask you about a hidden project you two were doing. This secret project won’t end up with either of you getting hurt, would it?” Bruce voice asked as the door swung open. “Also, where’s your phone? Did you break it again after trying out one of your stunts?”

Jason didn’t know what was happening but he suddenly felt everything become weightless and the world flipped upside down before he fell on the ground with a thump. He blinked as he processed what just happened. The smiling fuck actually judo flipped him up and over the couch.

“What was that?” Bruce says blankly, taking in the scene of Richard sitting perfectly calm on his seat, holding the pipe that Jason had been so adamant not to leave his side, while said teen himself was dazedly pulling himself up from behind the couch.

“Jason didn’t believe I could flip him myself so I did.”

“Dick!”

“Sorry, sorry!”Richard chirped and in a completely nonchalant tone, continued, “Though, did you know that he’s like me?” He said as he wrapped and arm around Jason’s shoulder in a show of goodwill, despite Jason’s insistence on pushing his face away.

“You and Jason?” Bruce frowned in confusion. “You’re both... children?” He said unsurely. Upon seeing the pout on Richard’s face, he tried again. “You both have black hair and blue eyes?”

Richard dramatically fell down on his seat, an hand on his forehead. “You wound me, B! Can’t you see that we’re both similar? We’re basically _brothers now_!”

Bruce just looked at the two amusedly before shaking his head. He moved over to Jason and helped him stand up. “Sorry about Dick. He’s a bit too enthusiastic when it comes to gymnastics. Are you alright?”

“...Yeah.”

Bruce didn’t notice the horrified look in Jason’s face as he glared at Richard.


	4. One Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barbara's thoughts on Richard and Jason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOUBLE UPDATE! GO BACK A CHAPTER!  
> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆ Enjoy!*✲ﾟ*｡⋆

Barbara knew that something was different about Richard when she first laid her eyes on him. Although she didn’t realize it at first with what little contact she had with him when she became Batgirl until Batman—who was surprisingly Bruce Wayne, who would’ve thought of that?—officially took her in and thought her how to defend herself. Richard quickly became her best friend, almost brother in everything but blood.

She could see that Richard was unusually... attached, so to say, to both Bruce and Alfred. At first she chalked it up as Richard being scared of losing more people he cared about with what she found out about his past but then she started to notice things, little things, which an average person would just brush off.

She noticed how every move Richard made seemed almost too perfect, as if he had rehearsed his action over and over again to make sure there wasn’t a single mistake in his steps. When he talked to someone, his words were calculated and charismatic enough for the other people to start playing into his hands, like a puppeteer with his puppets, and the way he expressed himself appeared controlled.

There was also that subtle difference whenever he was with other people versus her, Alfred, Bruce, and even the newest addition to the family, Jason. The way his eyes seemed to dull despite the huge smile on his face, or the way he acted around other people versus them.

What’s more, Richard had this odd obsession with bringing a knife in his pocket, whether he was patrolling or not. Not that she asked any question regarding why he had it.

Sometimes, when he was with other people, the knife would poke out from his pocket or start falling and Barbara always found herself automatically covering it or pushing it back deeper in his pocket and Richard would turn to her subtle and give her a small smile. The kind of smile he’d only give to Bruce, Jason, and Alfred.

It wasn’t long before she suddenly realized that Dick wanted her to notice this. He wanted her to notice the signs, every action he did, every move he took, every word he said, he wanted her to notice it. He made it obvious enough for her but not for the outsiders, not for those he didn’t consider his... family, perhaps? _Property_?

She didn’t know how to feel at this discovery. In fact, she felt... almost nothing at this, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, just like the fact that the grass was green, the sky was blue, and Dick was unhinged.

And then she realizes another thing. She’s been conditioned to see the things Dick did as normal. To accept him with his entirety and what he did or _what he will do_.

And what’s more? She somehow oddly didn’t mind it despite this.

**X**

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

“Dick? Why are you calling this late? Was there something you need?”

...

“Well, sure. You don’t have to worry, I’ll make sure those camera feeds are scrubbed clean and spotless!”

...

“Yeah, yeah, I know, bye, see you later!”

_Click!_

** X **

Barbara knew Jason was different the moment she laid her eyes on him, just as Dick was when she first saw him.

Although Jason tried to fit in with the others, there was just the tell tale signs of... _anger_ in his action. The way his eyes flashed and glinted menacingly if even someone looked at him wrongly, the way he clenched his fists so hard that he cut himself whenever he tried to keep his temper in control, and the way he stopped himself from acting on his urges to find the nearest object he could to use it as a club for whoever unfortunate soul offended him.

While she could see him somewhat being successful in his attempt, she knew it wouldn’t last long. Not while Dick was there to undo it all. Dick didn’t really like anyone or anything hurting his family and Jason’s self control was, in a way, hurting him.

Jason was smart, of course, and he could obviously see what Dick was trying to do but really, it was just a matter of time. Surprisingly, Dick didn’t even need to push Jason. Jason did it himself. And all it took was one bad day.

According to what she heard from Dick, someone tried to mug Jason when he decided to walk home from school instead of waiting for Dick to pick him up after a bad day at school (Alfred couldn’t do it because he was away, visiting a relative, and Bruce was working overtime). He got detention after being accused of cheating in a quiz and another detention for ‘talking back to a teacher’ when he tried to explain himself. It didn’t really help when his other classmates called him a charity case and that Bruce had only taken him in to look good in the eyes of the public and the media because why would a wealthy billionaire adopt a street child?

It was truly a wonder how Jason didn’t snap then and there.

She moved closer to the computer, the footage was a bit dark since it was already almost evening at this time, and watched the video where Jason passed by an alleyway, only to stop as a man holding a huge knife appeared and cut him off. From the way the man was holding the knife, this definitely wasn’t his first mugging. But it surely would be his last.

Looking closely at Jason’s form, he looked unmoving and stiff, aside from the clenching of his hands and before Barbara knew it, Jason moved, a brick in hand he swiped from the ground, and lunged at his attacker.

Barbara watched with fascination in her eyes at what had happened. She watched as the life left the mugger with each time the brick was brought down, over and over, until there was nothing more but a dead man left. She watched as Dick arrived and comforted a shivering Jason, most likely in shock from what he had done. She watched as he called her to help him get rid of the evidence. She watched as Dick put the body in the trunk of his car with practiced ease before coaxing Jason into the car with him and driving off.

Barbara leaned back in silence before sighing. She fiddled with her computer before proceeding to erase the video footage in the surrounding area where Dick and Jason where.

She sighed again before picking up her phone and pressing call on a certain billionaire’s number.

“Yo, Bruce!” Barbara said cheerfully once the call connected. “Hope you don’t mind but Dick and I are gonna be working on our super secret hidden project. Hope you don’t mind if he’s a little late! Oh, and we also took Jason with us so he’s gonna be late, too!”

From the other side of the phone, Bruce sighed. “Alright but this secret project better not hurt any of you. Call me if the boys decide to stay the night over with you. Stay safe, and just because it’s Friday doesn’t mean you don’t get to stay up too late.”

“Alright B, thanks!”

_Click!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UwU, Barbara called Bruce too many times about working on a secret project with Dick that he doesn’t question it anymore. He just assumed that the two are just hanging out around Gotham, going to restaurants and stuff because they’ve been doing this ever since they were smol.  
> Also, sorry not sorry for taking this long to update but hehe, life called me and stuff.


End file.
